Forum:2004-10-09. I know people are probably tired of speculating about Arnold's last name but..., by Demile Pythia Ashford
Demile_Pythia_Ashford, 09/10/2004 3:10 PM :I had been reading up on some of the posts on various boards about Arnold's last name because I had been watching some old eps and something in "Mugged" caught my attention. LPC_Megabot stated in another topic on this board that in the episode "Mugged" Arnold's grandmother called him "Anson-san" I am so happy I am not the only one who heard that. I thought I was hearing things. I tell ya, I thought I was going nuts. That was a nice thing to point out because it is very possible that it could be Arnold's last name. I am not sure if I think it is, but it's definitely added to my list of possible last names. If you don't know any Japanese then this quick little lession should help you (the readers of this post) understand why this works. Adding suffixes such as "-chan" or "-san" is a Japanese thing in general (not a karate thing, Stephen) and "-san" is a respectful and polite title that is added on to a name... usually a last name... depends on who you are and who you are addressing. I have been studying Japanese on my own time for several years and right now I am in my second year of college Japanese so think of the following as a short Japanese lesson: People in Japan go by their last names (family names) the majority of the time except among very close friends. So your walking down the street one morning and you see Mrs. Tanaka (I'll call her "Akane") You would greet her by saying something like: "Tanaka-san! Ohayo gozaimasu!" Then proceed to add something like "O genki desu ka?" You basically would have just said the equivelent of "Goodmorning Mrs. Tanaka! How are you?" (Note that there are no actual words for Mr. Mrs. Miss... that sort of thing. There are just suffixes added to a name which vary in their meanings and levels of politeness.) From what I have noticed adults rarely ever address other adults by their given names except in private with their close friends, but even then some people may find it a bit rude. Adolescents, teenagers and children however are usually much more laid back when it comes to addressing friends and classmates. They will call their close friends by their first names and many times add "-chan" or "-kun" to the end of it. They will call their other classmates casually by their last names or first names with or without the suffixes or titles. In the martial arts (or anything else that involves an instructor and students/trainees/pupils/etc) an instructor (no matter how close to his/her students he/she might be) will always address the students by their last name (family name) and most of the time will add the "-san" ending. Students will always call their instructor "sensei" ("sensei" is the suffix or stand-alone title one would call an instructor/professor/teacher/coach/principal/etc. When used as a suffix it is always used following the last name.) There are many other suffixes/titles to add to the end of names but I am not going over them because it is unneccessary. This is a Hey Arnold! board and not a Japanese class. (So much for a SHORT lesson) So since Arnold's grandmother (or in this case... his martial arts instructor) called him "Anson-san" (and I beleive she told him to call her "sensei" at one point in "Mugged") it is possible that that could be his last name. On a slightly different note I remember a topic a long while ago on another HA! board that talked about something that Craig saying about Arnold's last name being said in nearly every episode which leaves people to believe it might be "Shortman" Well I haven't found the copy of the interview I had laying around on my harddrive yet but I distinctly remember that Craig didn't say that it was "said" in every episode but more correctly Arnold's last name "appears" in every episode... This can mean in the form of the spoken word or the form of the written word. It's very possible he said that to keep fans speculating but it's something to think about. -Demile ---- Cool, 10/10/2004 11:09 AM :That is one well thought out post. My brain hurts from reading it :) :Well I haven't found the copy of the interview I had laying around on my harddrive yet but I distinctly remember that Craig didn't say that it was "said" in every episode but more correctly Arnold's last name "appears" in every episode... This can mean in the form of the spoken word or the form of the written word. :#1. All interviews/chats that craig has EVER had are on this site. #2. I had no freakin idea that this was stated. Yes, I found it weird that his last name would be said in each episode, cause I don't think each and every episode has someone saying "shortman" to him. I really hope it isnt that, cause I hate that last name, it sounds stupid. :Well, I have always assumed Craig and company have hidden things in the series' backgounds and whatnot, but you really need a keen eye to catch this stuff. But whatever, Canadian fans aren't getting HA at all right now. "Nick on CBS" changed their whole format to "Nick Jr" and YTV took the show temporially off their line-up. If only I had DVD's! I could spend hours watching and recording stuff! :-Stephen ---- Demile_Pythia_Ashford, 11/10/2004 2:04 PM :I'm definitely gonna watch some eps tonight after Japanese class lets out (I have most of them recorded on VHS) and look for things. :-Demile